So...there I was minding my own business one day when I sneezed. Of course the auto-response for most people is to say "bless you". This got me to thinking...what right do you have to bless me? What if I don't want to be blessed? What if I am NOT religious? Saying that to me might offend me.
Then, my cousin joins a Facebook group called "put Christ back into schools". I have serious problems with this. With all the different religions and beliefs in the world, what right does anyone have to teach "Christ" in the school? A Catholic school is different because you have the choice to send your kids there. I elected to comment on this group saying what I just said above. This opened a big can of worms.
I already had a bee in my bonnet, so I decided to stir the big can of worms I already opened. I joined a Facebook group called "take god out of the Canadian National Anthem". Again, what right does anyone have to impress their religious beliefs on someone else? Simply change the word "god" to "please" in the anthem and all will be well.
Boy was that the wrong thing to do. PLENTY of discussion occurred with the religious nuts coming out and basically telling me that I was doomed. The worst part - one of them was my Mother. Now our relationship is strained because I was "mocking her belief". OMFG.
It is perfectly OK for her to "like" the fact that my cousin joined that group, but it is not OK for me to voice my opinion. It is OK for people to say "god bless you", but it is not OK for me to voice my opinion. It is OK for people to say "so you have no direction in your life?" when you don't believe in god? See where I am looking? That is the direction I am going in my life.
Not only is my Mom disappointed in the fact that I am not a good christian, but now I have my Dad trying to fix things by including my brothers, my daughter and my wife in this discussion. Even after I said "let it go and never talk of it again". Boy our family get-together tomorrow is going to be fun!!!
I guess what annoys me the most about this whole situation, is the fact that the bible is supposed to teach tolerance and forgiveness, yet those people who claim to be Christians are the most intolerant people I know. It is fine if you believe what they believe, but don't attempt to have your own opinion. It is perfectly OK for people to come to my door and push the Watchtower in my face, perfectly OK for people to say "god bless you", perfectly OK for people to pray for me, but apparently it is NOT OK for me to voice my opinion.
I'm sure I could rant about this for pages upon pages, but where will it get me? I will offend someone because I don't agree with their beliefs. It is a losing battle. Feel free to comment if you can handle a rational, logical discussion.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
a Night of Sin
So we went to Grande Prairie to attend a Murder Mystery. This was going to be our first time so we were not sure what to expect.
We got our character profiles and I was to play a US Senator, while Michelle was to play a high class Las Vegas call girl.
We were encouraged to dress up so I wore a shirt and tie, while Michelle went all out. Short skirt, tall boots, fishnet stockings and a pink feather boa. Needless to say she looked smokin hot!! She also won for best dressed.
When we got to the party we were given a set of tasks to complete before the murder. Basically just to introduce yourself to everyone and get to know all the characters. There was also some setup for the rest of the night.
After the lights went out, someone was murdered!! The hunt for the killer was on. Each of us got another list of tasks and objectives to accomplish in our pursuit of the killer.
Everyone from the senator and his wife, to his mistress, to the casino owner are suspects. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who is going to do one of these so I won't tell you who did it!! Lol.
It was a fun time and I would love to do another one someday. I think it would have been better if everyone knew each other as we didn't know some of the participants and they didn't know us. However, we had a great time.
Photos are up on Facebook and I will also be putting them on my Shutterfly site in the next day or so. Http://hollandsphotos.shutterfly.com
We got our character profiles and I was to play a US Senator, while Michelle was to play a high class Las Vegas call girl.
We were encouraged to dress up so I wore a shirt and tie, while Michelle went all out. Short skirt, tall boots, fishnet stockings and a pink feather boa. Needless to say she looked smokin hot!! She also won for best dressed.
When we got to the party we were given a set of tasks to complete before the murder. Basically just to introduce yourself to everyone and get to know all the characters. There was also some setup for the rest of the night.
After the lights went out, someone was murdered!! The hunt for the killer was on. Each of us got another list of tasks and objectives to accomplish in our pursuit of the killer.
Everyone from the senator and his wife, to his mistress, to the casino owner are suspects. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who is going to do one of these so I won't tell you who did it!! Lol.
It was a fun time and I would love to do another one someday. I think it would have been better if everyone knew each other as we didn't know some of the participants and they didn't know us. However, we had a great time.
Photos are up on Facebook and I will also be putting them on my Shutterfly site in the next day or so. Http://hollandsphotos.shutterfly.com
Monday, November 16, 2009
Where's my cane sonny?
So...there I was minding my own business on a Saturday evening. Tracey (sister-in-law) bought a new house so we were helping them break it in when I get a text message. I check and it is from my son saying that he has some news. You can imagine my shock and surprise when he tells me that he and his girlfriend are pregnant. That's right...you heard me. BubbaMike is going to be a Grandpa for real!
After I got over my initial shock - oh wait...I still haven't. It's not that I am upset or anything, but I worry about Rob and wish nothing but the best for him. He is only 17 which is WAY too young to be fathering a child. I was 21 when I became a father and that was too young. I remember well the challenges I went through, so I can only hope for the best for Robin and Storm.
Now that I have completely blown your mind...on to other thoughts.
Umm...
Ahh...
Right now, at this point in time, nothing I can say would come even close to topping my latest news. Maybe I will come up with something later...
After I got over my initial shock - oh wait...I still haven't. It's not that I am upset or anything, but I worry about Rob and wish nothing but the best for him. He is only 17 which is WAY too young to be fathering a child. I was 21 when I became a father and that was too young. I remember well the challenges I went through, so I can only hope for the best for Robin and Storm.
Now that I have completely blown your mind...on to other thoughts.
Umm...
Ahh...
Right now, at this point in time, nothing I can say would come even close to topping my latest news. Maybe I will come up with something later...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Fragapalooza 2009
So, Fragapalooza 2009 is over and we have a break before we need to start worrying about next year. Of course, that is assuming we have a next year.
I wish I was kidding about that. The staff put up with so much BS before the event this year that some of us are questioning our committment to doing another event.
We had to change venues at the last minute as there were not enough paid registrations to actually make a go of it. It was to the point where we almost cancelled the event. However we found a venue that would take us out in Fort Saskatchewan - the Dow Centennial Center. It would mean a longer commute for some people but it was the best that we could do.
The event was a huge success by the time it was over but the complaining we had to put up with before the event left a bad taste in our mouth.
I am not going to go into great detail about the complaints but suffice it to say we were not impressed. As a result, Fragapalooza 2010 is up in the air.
Thanks to all the participants who supported us by coming, thanks to all the great volunteers and staff, and a special thanks to the staff at the Dow Center for going out of their way for us. I hope to see you all next year.
I wish I was kidding about that. The staff put up with so much BS before the event this year that some of us are questioning our committment to doing another event.
We had to change venues at the last minute as there were not enough paid registrations to actually make a go of it. It was to the point where we almost cancelled the event. However we found a venue that would take us out in Fort Saskatchewan - the Dow Centennial Center. It would mean a longer commute for some people but it was the best that we could do.
The event was a huge success by the time it was over but the complaining we had to put up with before the event left a bad taste in our mouth.
I am not going to go into great detail about the complaints but suffice it to say we were not impressed. As a result, Fragapalooza 2010 is up in the air.
Thanks to all the participants who supported us by coming, thanks to all the great volunteers and staff, and a special thanks to the staff at the Dow Center for going out of their way for us. I hope to see you all next year.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Heat
Why do some people think that I am crazy for not liking the heat? When it gets above 24c I get cranky. Even in the shade it becomes too uncomfortable for me. You start to sweat, your clothes stick to you and it is all around not fun.
The sun is my worst enemy too. As a red head I can burn in like 30 minutes. How is that fun?
So, when the talk comes around to holidays, people are surprised when I day no to places like Cuba or Mexico. In fact they are actually shocked. I didn't go with the family trip to Cuba because of the heat.
Go ahead and ridicule me all you want. I will be nice and cool in my air conditioned house while you are roasting in unbearable heat.
The sun is my worst enemy too. As a red head I can burn in like 30 minutes. How is that fun?
So, when the talk comes around to holidays, people are surprised when I day no to places like Cuba or Mexico. In fact they are actually shocked. I didn't go with the family trip to Cuba because of the heat.
Go ahead and ridicule me all you want. I will be nice and cool in my air conditioned house while you are roasting in unbearable heat.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Windows 7
So, I have been playing with Windows 7 for a while now. I had heard that it was supposed to fix all that was wrong with Vista. Considering that I refused to run Vista as it was so bad, I thought I would try out the public Beta in a VM for a while.
The beta seemed actually quit good so I thought I would try running it on my home machine. Without getting into too many details, the install was slick and the OS seemed really good. Even in beta it was better than Vista.
After running it for a while and upgrading to all the leaked builds as well as the public RC, I gave it up. There was some networking bug that affected some people but not others. I was one of the affected. I went back to Windows 2008 workstation.
However, we got more ram in our work machines so I thought it would be a great test to see how it runs in a work environment. I dual booted my machine with the standard XP and Windows 7. I have to say I love it. Everything now works that I have tried. Some of our applications needed some tweaks, while most just worked. A couple needed an updated version downloaded but I am happy to say that everything I need to do my job is working.
I also installed it on my laptop to see how it would run on older hardware. For the most part I am quite happy with it. Sometimes it seems to take longer to wake up than the XP did, but overall it is running about the same. I think I will keep it.
For anyone that is currently running Vista, I highly suggest you run out and buy the upgrade while it is on sale. You will not be dissapointed.
The beta seemed actually quit good so I thought I would try running it on my home machine. Without getting into too many details, the install was slick and the OS seemed really good. Even in beta it was better than Vista.
After running it for a while and upgrading to all the leaked builds as well as the public RC, I gave it up. There was some networking bug that affected some people but not others. I was one of the affected. I went back to Windows 2008 workstation.
However, we got more ram in our work machines so I thought it would be a great test to see how it runs in a work environment. I dual booted my machine with the standard XP and Windows 7. I have to say I love it. Everything now works that I have tried. Some of our applications needed some tweaks, while most just worked. A couple needed an updated version downloaded but I am happy to say that everything I need to do my job is working.
I also installed it on my laptop to see how it would run on older hardware. For the most part I am quite happy with it. Sometimes it seems to take longer to wake up than the XP did, but overall it is running about the same. I think I will keep it.
For anyone that is currently running Vista, I highly suggest you run out and buy the upgrade while it is on sale. You will not be dissapointed.
Friday, May 29, 2009
So I finally decided to join Twitter to see what all the fuss is about. Meh. That's pretty much how I felt about it at first. Then I started to realize some of the marketing power it has.
I signed Fragapalooza up now so that I could keep the world updated and to see if I could put some of this free marketing to work.
I can make a post about one of the sponsors for instance, and if I tag the sponsor name (#) then my post will return as a search result when someone searches for that sponsor. This works for any term that I tag. #LAN for instance is a great tag.
In the two days since I have signed up Frag, there are 15 followers already. Each of those followers have followers of their own who can see that they are following Frag. This has the potential of reaching lots of new attendees in a short time. As long as I post regularily and tag the correct terms, this will work out well.
You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands or Fragapalooza at http://www.twitter.com/Fragapalooza
See you online!
Mobile Blogging from here.
I signed Fragapalooza up now so that I could keep the world updated and to see if I could put some of this free marketing to work.
I can make a post about one of the sponsors for instance, and if I tag the sponsor name (#) then my post will return as a search result when someone searches for that sponsor. This works for any term that I tag. #LAN for instance is a great tag.
In the two days since I have signed up Frag, there are 15 followers already. Each of those followers have followers of their own who can see that they are following Frag. This has the potential of reaching lots of new attendees in a short time. As long as I post regularily and tag the correct terms, this will work out well.
You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands or Fragapalooza at http://www.twitter.com/Fragapalooza
See you online!
Mobile Blogging from here.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
To BE, or not to BE...
So...we had a bomb dropped on us at work the other day...the dreaded OUTSOURCE was brought up. Once we all got over the initial shock of hearing that, our CIO went on to discuss some of the ideas around it. Now, when I say ideas, it is because nothing has been decided yet. The entire IT branch will be involved in the entire process from now until the end of it. Should be interesting...
There have been a zillion discussions already about it and I am looking at it in the most positive way possible. What other choice do I have? I guess I could be miserable for the next year...instead I decided to get out in front of this thing, and make sure that I have some sort of control over my career. (good luck with that right? LOL)
Beyond work, things are pretty much the same... I have been watching WAY too much hockey...I try and catch at least a couple periods of every game that is on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for catching up on regular TV, but I'm sure I will get over it.
For kicks, I joined Twitter the other day...if you are one of those Tweeple, follow me! http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands
Planning for this years Fragapalooza is well under way. If you or someone you know is a gamer, please sign up! http://www.fragapalooza.com
L8R!
There have been a zillion discussions already about it and I am looking at it in the most positive way possible. What other choice do I have? I guess I could be miserable for the next year...instead I decided to get out in front of this thing, and make sure that I have some sort of control over my career. (good luck with that right? LOL)
Beyond work, things are pretty much the same... I have been watching WAY too much hockey...I try and catch at least a couple periods of every game that is on. Doesn't leave a lot of room for catching up on regular TV, but I'm sure I will get over it.
For kicks, I joined Twitter the other day...if you are one of those Tweeple, follow me! http://www.twitter.com/michaelhollands
Planning for this years Fragapalooza is well under way. If you or someone you know is a gamer, please sign up! http://www.fragapalooza.com
L8R!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Rockband
So I finally got my wife interested on Rockband. Not to the point where she will pick up a guitar and rock out, but she will sing the occasional song now and has even created her own character in the game. Baby steps right?
I also made the mistake of looking outside this morning...what is up with the snow? I mean really...it is almost the end of March, and the first day of spring was yesterday. Oh well, I guess I should expect this given that I live in Edmonton after all.
I also made the mistake of looking outside this morning...what is up with the snow? I mean really...it is almost the end of March, and the first day of spring was yesterday. Oh well, I guess I should expect this given that I live in Edmonton after all.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Posting from my iPod
So here we are...not much has happened lately for me to blog about. Now, I have a new blogging app for my iPod Touch that will allow me to update from anywhere there is wifi.
Of course...I still have nothing to update.
Ok, that is not quite true. Fragapalooza had an event in Grande Prairie that was actually quite successful. We had more people attend than we thought we would, which was nice. We may even do another event next year.
The next step is to ramp up our planning for the summer event. Stay tuned!
Of course...I still have nothing to update.
Ok, that is not quite true. Fragapalooza had an event in Grande Prairie that was actually quite successful. We had more people attend than we thought we would, which was nice. We may even do another event next year.
The next step is to ramp up our planning for the summer event. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!! To all of you who get email notifications when I update this thing (and you know who you are) which is worse? Posting a Blog about nothing in particular, or getting email reminders for a Blog about nothing in particular?
So, Christmas came and went again...tho this year I never did manage to get into the spirit. Is it just me getting old?? We made the trip to Grande Prairie again this year and had a good time. The drive up was good for about half the trip, then it got slippery which added another hour onto the trip time. The trip home was not quite as bad. If only it wasn't so damn cold!!! I cleaned up on the gifts again this year and as my wife pointed out, I got almost everything I put on my wish list. It was supposed to be some suggestions and not a list of demands!! LOL Oh well...it is always nice to get spoiled once in a while! My two biggest toys this year were Guitar Hero World Tour and an iPod Touch. "I'm a big kid now!!!" I spent a lot of time watching the World Juniors and the Spengler Cup again this year...it is really becoming a tradition.
New Years Eve was spent at a friends place. Michelle had to work that night so she stayed home to sleep before work. We watched some hockey, then played some poker. It started with 14 of us and we split between 2 tables. When we were down to the final 8 we consolodated onto a single table. At that point those that were out decided it was a good time to fire up the Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I was on the final table and actually made it to the final 3, at which point I decided I would have more fun playing Rock Band than Poker and went All-In. Of course I lost but being 3rd I actually doubled my buy-in so it was all good! 3:30am we finally decided to call it a night and I made my way home.
New Years Day was spent watching more hockey, beginning with the NHL Winter Classic. It was a pretty good game and it sure brought back memories of the Heritage Classic...
After a month of feeling under the weather I think I finally have the damn thing beat. A few sniffles and coughs now and then, but over all I am feeling much better. Just in time to go back to work too.
Speaking of work...11 days off in a row and I finally had to go back. All I can say is when you have that much time invested in sleeping in, it is extremely difficult to get up for work! :) Oh well...have to pay the bills some how!
That's it for now...
So, Christmas came and went again...tho this year I never did manage to get into the spirit. Is it just me getting old?? We made the trip to Grande Prairie again this year and had a good time. The drive up was good for about half the trip, then it got slippery which added another hour onto the trip time. The trip home was not quite as bad. If only it wasn't so damn cold!!! I cleaned up on the gifts again this year and as my wife pointed out, I got almost everything I put on my wish list. It was supposed to be some suggestions and not a list of demands!! LOL Oh well...it is always nice to get spoiled once in a while! My two biggest toys this year were Guitar Hero World Tour and an iPod Touch. "I'm a big kid now!!!" I spent a lot of time watching the World Juniors and the Spengler Cup again this year...it is really becoming a tradition.
New Years Eve was spent at a friends place. Michelle had to work that night so she stayed home to sleep before work. We watched some hockey, then played some poker. It started with 14 of us and we split between 2 tables. When we were down to the final 8 we consolodated onto a single table. At that point those that were out decided it was a good time to fire up the Rock Band and Guitar Hero. I was on the final table and actually made it to the final 3, at which point I decided I would have more fun playing Rock Band than Poker and went All-In. Of course I lost but being 3rd I actually doubled my buy-in so it was all good! 3:30am we finally decided to call it a night and I made my way home.
New Years Day was spent watching more hockey, beginning with the NHL Winter Classic. It was a pretty good game and it sure brought back memories of the Heritage Classic...
After a month of feeling under the weather I think I finally have the damn thing beat. A few sniffles and coughs now and then, but over all I am feeling much better. Just in time to go back to work too.
Speaking of work...11 days off in a row and I finally had to go back. All I can say is when you have that much time invested in sleeping in, it is extremely difficult to get up for work! :) Oh well...have to pay the bills some how!
That's it for now...
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